A simple skincare routine for men, built around what you already do

By Barbara Filokostas, Founder of Botáni, Naturopath and Herbalist

When men come to see me, one of the first things I hear is, “I don’t really know where to start.” And honestly, I understand why. Walk into any skincare aisle and you’re faced with rows of cleansers, serums and treatments that can make looking after your skin feel far more complicated than it needs to be. What most men actually need is a simple skincare routine built around two moments they already have in their day — the shower and the shave. You don’t need to create a new ritual. You just need to make the one you’re already living work a little harder for you.

Oily skin doesn't always mean hydrated skin

One of the things I would love more men to understand is that oily skin doesn’t necessarily mean hydrated skin. I’ve spoken to many men who tell me, “My skin is oily, so I don’t need moisturiser.” But the two things are actually quite different, and confusing them is one of the most common reasons men skip a step their skin genuinely needs.

A study of 300 healthy men and women aged between 20 and 74 examined skin hydration, sebum production, pH and transepidermal water loss. The researchers found that men’s skin hydration progressively decreased from around the age of 40, while sebum production remained relatively high with age (Luebberding, Krueger and Kerscher, 2013).

In simple terms, you can have an oily forehead or shiny skin and still have skin that needs hydration — and it’s worth thinking about as we get older, because the two changes don’t happen at the same pace. This is a pattern I see constantly in clinic: men with visibly oily skin who have quietly under-hydrated skin underneath, simply because oiliness reads as the opposite of dryness.

Rather than trying to remove every trace of oil, I prefer a gentler approach. Your skin has its own natural protective system, and we don’t want to work against it. That’s why I recommend cleansing to remove sweat, dirt and excess oil, rather than cleansing until the skin feels tight or “squeaky clean.” Healthy-looking skin doesn’t need to feel stripped. If your skin feels tight after cleansing, that’s usually a sign you’ve gone a step too far, not a sign it’s finally clean.

Exercise changes your skin, not just how it feels

Men who train regularly are usually aware of sweat, but the effect of exercise on the skin goes beyond simply feeling damp after a workout. Research involving 60 healthy volunteers examined skin before and after 45 minutes of endurance cardio training and found measurable changes in skin physiology, including an increase in stratum-corneum hydration of around 51.9 per cent on the forearm, along with changes in sebum and skin-surface pH (Luebberding, Kolbe and Kerscher, 2013).

That doesn’t mean I want anyone worrying about their skin every time they train — quite the opposite, I encourage people to stay active. It simply means that once you’ve finished, a shower is a genuine opportunity to freshen the skin, not just an afterthought once you’re already out the door.

This is also where I want to gently remind men not to forget the skin on the rest of the body. We tend to think about the face because that’s what we see in the mirror, but the back, chest and shoulders deserve attention too, particularly after training in close-fitting gym clothing, where skin has been exposed to heat, moisture and friction.

Let your shower and shave do the work

This is one of my favourite ways to simplify skincare for men. Keep your facial cleanser and body wash in the shower, where they’re already within reach, and use the time you’re already spending there to cleanse the back, chest and shoulders as well as the face. These areas are easy to overlook, but they matter just as much as the face does. You’re not adding another appointment to your morning — you’re simply making better use of the one you’re already having. And remember, you don’t need to scrub aggressively. More friction isn’t necessarily better.

Shaving deserves the same care. Every time a razor passes across your face, you’re not only removing hair — you’re interacting with the skin’s surface. Beard hair is dense, thick and stiff, which can make a close shave challenging, and research into male facial skin and beard hair shows that increased pressure and multiple strokes can increase the likelihood of shaving-related irritation (Maurer et al., 2016). So prepare the skin properly, use warm water, give the shaving product time to soften the hair, and try not to go over the same area twice. Sometimes, less really is more.

A cross-sectional study of 340 healthy men found the most commonly reported shaving problems were irritation, dryness, razor burn and razor nicks, and recommended proper skin preparation and post-shave care to help avoid them (Sukakul et al., 2021). This is why I keep Botáni Boost Balancing Moisturiser beside my razor rather than in a cupboard — sitting beside the razor, it becomes part of the same routine: shaving finishes, the razor goes down, and moisturising becomes the natural next step, not an extra one to remember. It’s designed to give comfortable hydration without leaving the skin feeling heavy or coated.